more 1sts

yesterday was a series of firsts:
-1st night i spent at my new apt
-i got my first apt warming gift
-i used the washing machine for the 1st time, and promptly turned all my whites blue. forreal.

today's new adventure was visiting beautiful Pilanesberg National Park in the northwest province of sa. it was a 2 hr drive (a but more going there, cuz i took th e"scenic" route) there, but on the way got to see some amazing landscapes (mostly mountains/hills). SA has a bunch of national parks and game reserves (something like 600) and pilanesburg is the 4th largest. this was an absolutely amazing experience. think of the best park you've been to, multiply that by 4000, and put the animals in their natural habitat and you get pilanesberg (or many of the national parks in sa, for that matter). We saw, giraffes, crocodiles, hippos, elephants (one actually decided to take a stroll on the path and caused quite a pleasant car jam), springboks, zebras, impalas, buffalos, kudus, and lots of neat looking birds. only sad part is we didn't get to see the king of the jungle; i'm hoping when i go to kruger national park (in a couple weeks), theyll have plenty lions.

Also, it just occured to me that christmas is a couple days away. crazy. hope everyone is enjoying the last minute christmas shopping period. things are pretty dead here in jo'burg, comparatively, which is kind of a good thing because the roads arent as busy. however...the malls aparently is where its at, as those are still, as always, incredibly crowded. this will actually be the first christmas i will be spending away from my family. a bit sad, but a neccesary transition none the less, so i'm looking forward to it. enjoy your holidays and family and friends.

also, i posted some random pics up. check them out here